SUPERMAN

“Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment.”

-Romans 12:3

Arthur W. Mandelko’s strange life recently came to an end in the film capital of the world – Hollywood. His death was almost as strange as the life that he led. Police detectives said that the small 24 year old man committed suicide in a refrigerator.

Mandelko delighted to play Superman at night.  Neighbors said that his fantasy life began at night when he would climb to the roof of his apartment in his Superman suit and jump from roof to roof.

There is a bit tragic pathos in the death of Athur Mandelko who lived a life of fantasy and dreams. Yet is there not something of Mandelko in the lives of perhaps most of us – who attempt to be something more than we really are?

The ancient Greeks wore masks to portray grief, hate, fear, joy. But what are the masks in the twentieth century? Many of our emotional and spiritual problems result from our wearing masks.

God tells us to take off the mask and play it straight. Paul wrote guidelines for living when he said, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment.” (Romans 12:3)

He tells us that real beauty comes from within. A glowing personality comes from the depths of life – not from the surface without. Chances are you have not followed the fantasies of Arthur Mandelko the next time you play the big “hero.” While we are not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to, neither are we to sell ourselves short. Be yourself, for God knows exactly who you are.